Chapter 15: Burning Faith
Fiery bonds
Severed atwain
Innocence lost
Buried in broken faith
Titania
"How're you holding up?" asked Ragna, standing beside her bed. Velvet had finally awoken after a long slumber and he can only guess at how disoriented she must feel right now. Only he and Phi had been permitted to check on her and took turns doing so. Though the younger Malak was here now together.
"How long have I been out?" Velvet replied as she sat up, clutching her forehead.
"A few days now. Almost a week." Phi said.
"A whole week wasted…" Velvet murmured. "What's the situation then?"
"A fair number of developments." Said Phi. "Grimoire's been deciphering that ancient book we obtained from Aball. She says the copy is complete and all the pages are in there. As for the dogs, Kamoana's taken a real shine to them, but not so much with Ragna."
He sighed. The two-headed dog daemon who were reduced to two smaller separate dogs when not in their Therion form. He had honestly tried to be friends but both continued to growl at him every time he was close. Expected, really.
"I think I'm more of a cat person." Ragna said.
"Really? That's going to be a problem then." Velvet replied with a chuckle.
He shrugged and leaned back against the wall.
"Anything else?" she asked.
"Zaveid also came to visit some time ago. Apparently he fought with Ragna's sister but he also said there's a chance she could join our side if we encounter her." Phi continued.
"It's a long-shot, but it's a possibility. Neither of us are apparently very fond of that freak Melchior and his Illusions." Ragna frowned.
"You and me both." Velvet said, pausing as her stomach growled. "!"
"Right, you haven't eaten anything yet during all that sleep. Let's deal with that first before anything else." Ragna said.
"I'll get to that." Velvet said and looked up at them. "Thanks, you two. But I'll be fine. Phi, let the others know I'm heading back. Call a meeting if you must."
"Right away!" the young Malak replied.
She stood up, stretched and breathed in deep before turning to face him. She said nothing as she embraced him tight before heading outside.
He missed that. Even if they haven't had contact since Aball.
Ragna followed and it didn't take long before they reached the designated meeting area beyond Titania's first gate. Everyone had gathered and were all ready to begin.
"OK, Phi, I need you to find us our next earthpulse point." Velvet said.
The boy concentrated, though only took a few seconds to detect it.
"I found one. But it's really, really far, way up in the northeast." He said.
"Hmmm, if it's that far out, it has to be in Endgand." Said Eleanor.
"Endgand is a collection of small islands. There's a comparatively bigger one called Lionel Island, but that's the exception." Explained Eizen.
"Yeah… I think the earthpulse point's probably out there." Phi nodded.
"Endgand eh?" said Magilou. "Those waters are haunted by ghost ships, you know?"
"Ghosts ships?!" both Ragna and Phi exclaimed.
"Yep. Legend has it they snatch up wrongdoers who bear lingering regrets and whisk them away to that eternal voyage."
"Magilou, you're just making it up aren't you?" Ragna frowned at her.
Eizen nodded his head. "Currents all over the world converge in Endgand's waters, so a lot of shipwrecks from distant seas end up there as their final resting place."
"Hence the stories of ghost ships." Said Rokurou.
"Boo, you guys have no imagination." Magilou sulked.
"We should still be careful though." Said Phi.
"We'll be fine." Replied Velvet. "Ghost ship, exorcist, whatever comes along… we'll be the ones to administer their last rites."
She gave an air of confidence, that's for sure. Despite what's happened so far, Velvet was hyperfocused on achieving this goal of hers. And so close to completion if they had just one of these therions left to deal with. But it still didn't sit right with him.
Ragna sighed and looked down at his right hand. He said nothing of it to the others, but Artorius' threat lingered on in his mind.
'Ere long we will come for you,' the man claimed. Well, let him try. He had to be prepared regardless.
Throne of the Empyrean
A summons for them when they've finally returned. It had been an enlightening experience all things considered but there isn't much they could do with the information given them by that Malakhim, Zui Fuu. In the future then, Oscar thought, maybe Lord Artorius had plans for that place?
Saya hovered beside him, clad in her heavy robes once more as she accompanied the exorcist. She didn't say much, but he knew she preferred keeping things to herself if anything troubled her. And while it didn't look like their recent experience was troubling, her silence always meant she was thinking of something else separate from their current tasks.
They had parted with Teresa a short while earlier, though his sister claimed she felt some unease with this meeting. He did try to reassure her, though their priority to Lord Artorius' orders came first.
That was when everything fell apart.
Upon Saya's first steps into the chamber, the Malak was wracked by pain. Her scream chilled Oscar and as he stepped in to help, a powerful surge of sparks and electricity kept him away.
"Hmmm… despite everything, she still resists. Even the memories we've taken from her brother aren't enough to immediately break her. It would be difficult for even Innominat to consume her will until this finishes." Melchior said as he approached and walked around her.
She was on her knees and held herself close, though she glared at Melchior as he passed her field of vision. She could say nothing though as another jolt of pain coursed through her.
"Lord Melchior, stop this!" Oscar cried out.
"…Did you just try to give me an order, Praetor? Is this not what is expected from the Malakhim in our service? To serve the will of Innominat by any means necessary?" Melchior turned to him.
"She has proven herself in word and deed! You needn't take her will away so suddenly when she can still help our cause!"
"Did you think being able to devour the malevolence of one dragon is enough?" Melchior replied. "Having faced her brother in combat, we have analyzed what they could do and though promising, still falls short of the world Innominat will grant us. And if they devour what we need before Innominat can reach them, then even our goals would be in jeopardy."
"You… are you planning to let Innominat devour her?!"
"Not yet, no." Artorius spoke up. "How we deal with those two will require some more planning. And I believe you have yet to fulfill your duty to us, Oscar."
"My duty? Have we not been fulfilling what was asked of us? My Lord, if you let us prove ourselves I'm sure we can…"
"…Oh but you can, Oscar. You are still attuned to the arte of Armatization are you not? Yet you have yet to use it even with her. Why is that?" asked Artorius.
"I… It is an experimental arte, like you said. We were saving it for when we eventually deal with the Lords of Calamity." He explained.
"Then that shall be your penance then." Artorius said, raising his hand as one of the tethered Malakhim stepped forward. "You shall be sent to Endgand to where we have our last Therion. Until you master Armatization and defeat one of the Lords of Calamity, you are not permitted to return."
"I…" he looked back at Saya and noticed the pleading look in her eye. He turned away and bowed his head. "I accept. I will finish this as soon as I can."
"Good." Artorius said, holding his palm out to him and attuned the summoned Malak. "This one is a Wind Malak. Show us that you can use it properly."
Shigure sighed and leaned back. "Man, I was really hoping it would turn out differently."
"I don't recall asking for your opinion." Oscar replied with a glare.
"Lord Artorius!"
He looked back as Teresa ran in through the doors. She wouldn't have stood idly by when she heard Saya's cries earlier. But there were likely other concerns she had.
"Go back outside, Teresa. We'll see you when we're done." Said Melchior.
"The experimental arte, let me use it instead! Oscar had done so much already." She begged.
Melchior shook his head. "We've taken the theory as far as it will go. The next step is to learn its control in practice. Had Oscar and his Malak used it earlier, then perhaps we would not be sending him on this mission but given how untested it still is, we are required to speed things up along."
"You are not strong enough." Artorius looked at her.
"Th-then… at least let me back him up!"
"So you can take the enemy out before Oscar can use the arte?" Shigure pointed out. "You know, there is also a reason why we're not letting him do this without his previous Malak, right? A noble plan, but it'd mess everything up."
Artorius glared at Shigure, who waved off the look.
"How so…?" asked Teresa.
"I have different orders for you." Artorius looked at her, not even bothering to respond to the question. "Teresa Linares. You are hereby relieved of your duties as an exorcist and are to return your malak."
"Relieved of duty?! Why?!" she replied, confused.
"For our plans to be realized, we require an especially strong Malak. We've analyzed your malak's dormant abilities, and he is of considerable power – on the same level as the young malak who betrayed us for the enemy." Melchior explained.
"Simply put, you just don't got what it takes to handle him, sweetheart." Shigure chuckled.
Artorius held his hand out and in a flash of light, rings of light appeared around Teresa and shattered. The silver-hailed Malak she had appeared in front of her, only to disappear in another flash of light as he was attuned to Melchior instead.
"How could you…" Teresa started, her voice lowering.
"Lord Artorius…"
"I know what you're about to ask." The Shepherd said. "Yes Oscar, when you fulfill your mission, I will make Teresa an exorcist again."
"And Lady Saya?" he asked.
"Your fixation on that Malak is concerning, but yes, I suppose we can reattune her with you as well on your return." Said Melchior.
"Very well. I shall return with that duty fulfilled." He replied and held his right hand across his chest before turning to leave.
"Oscar…" Teresa whispered…
She was left alone after that. The three legates walked away with Saya in tow. Teresa didn't even keep track of the time she spent alone in the chamber, her thoughts on both Oscar and his Malak. She was upset, very much so. And she could see in Oscar's one good eye that he was upset as well. And though they have their duties… this was too much.
"What should I do? If I don't do something he'll…" she said quietly.
Innominat's sigil started glowing behind her.
"Huh…? What's this…?"
